Vote 'NO' on House Salmon Amendment 129

Salmon 129 would eliminate the only remaining federal safeguard for educational equity in the underlying bill

Salmon 129 would amend H.R.5 to allow states to assess only some students without federal consequences. This would gut one of the most meaningful provisions in all of the ESEA – the current requirement that states assess at least 95 percent of all students using the same, objective measuring stick.Adoption of this amendment would send the signal that Congress is perfectly fine with actions to systemically discriminate, and coordinated efforts to counsel certain kids out of the state accountability system.

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Salmon 129 removes transparency on achievement gaps

While AYP is overly prescriptive, there is broad agreement – among Republicans and Democrats – that one of the things NCLB got right is: transparency of achievement data. NCLB shined a light on these achievement gaps, so schools and states could start work to address them.

This amendment would make any student who opts-out—or whose schools chooses to opt them out— effectively disappear, by removing them from the state and district denominator for reporting. Without the assurance that all students across each state are assessed using on-grade-level measures, we lose objective data on where achievement gaps persist.

NCLB required school districts and states to assess 95 percent of all students and 95 percent of all students within each subgroup (like students with disabilities, low income students, or minorities), and report that data.

The one remaining federal safeguard in HR5 is the 95 percent participation threshold. This amendment would render it meaningless.

Congress enacted the 95 percent participation threshold because in many states and districts, schools hid historically marginalized students by counseling them out of taking the statewide assessment. This is why, according to civil rights groups including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Council of La Raza, and the NAACP, the assessment participation threshold is one of the most important provisions in federal law.

Before No Child Left Behind, only one state assessed 95 percent or more of their students with disabilities using grade-level material. Now every state is required to do so, giving parents important information on how their kids were doing compared to their peers.

Adoption of this amendment would send the signal that Congress is approves of actions to systemically discriminate and coordinated efforts to counsel certain kids out of the assessment system.

Salmon 129 would take us back to a time when the easy way out of closing the achievement gap was to make it disappear. It assumes that disadvantaged students aren't capable of high achievement, perpetuating pervasive low expectations projected on students of color, poor students, students with disabilities, and students who don't speak English.

In 1965, the federal government got involved in public education because political pressure worked against poor and minority children. Unfortunately, political pressures in education still work against poor and minority children — by way of access to rigorous curriculum, effective teachers, funding, fair discipline policies, and wrap-around services.

The federal law must ask the simple question of whether all students, including low-income children, children of color, English learners and students with disabilities, are learning at grade level. If not, we must ensure that something is being done about it.

Salmon 129 would remove the expectation of federal action by eliminating the objective measure used to drive action and steer resources. Salmon 129 gives into those political pressures that work against disadvantaged students – we can’t do that to our children.

Salmon 129 is a horrible solution to a manufactured crisis

Prior to this school year, no state has ever fallen below the 95 percent participation threshold because communities understand the need for objective achievement measures. Five percent is a large allowance for non-tested students; this amounts to nearly 135,000 students in Florida alone.

By all indicators, student achievement is improving under current law. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, shows consistent growth for low-income and minority children, and faster growth than at any other time since 1980. Graduation rates are at an all-time high for all students, including for black and Hispanic students.

Those gains came not just because we started measuring achievement and graduation rates in real and consistent ways. We made gains as a nation because we demanded that something be done about the information and because, with federal leadership, the goals of improving education for all students became our collective goal.

There is no doubt that testing is unpopular. However, having assessments that measure whether students are on grade level and on track to graduate prepared for college or career forces us as schools, communities and a nation to confront and ultimately narrow the achievement gap.

If we are to rise as a nation educationally, this challenge must be one we take on collectively. No one’s school will improve without ‘apples to apples’ information on how students are doing.

Reauthorization of the ESEA will lead to less testing through more responsible use of achievement data, and state and local efforts to minimize unnecessary assessment. While many claim the movement in support of 'opt-out' to be organic, it is orchestrated by powerful interests opposed to any and all accountability in public education. This amendment rewards a coordinated effort to use poverty as an excuse for not acting to close the achievement gap.